Bengaluru Commuter Rail

Bengaluru Commuter Rail is a proposed suburban rail network for the city of Bangalore. A Commuter Rail system for the city was first proposed in 1983. Since then, several different route proposals were made but no Commuter Rail project took shape. It was finally approved in the 2019 Railway Budget. On 1 February 2020, finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned in her budget that the project would be implemented at cost of Rs 18,600 crores. The central government would provide 20% of the equity and facilitate external assistance up to 60 percent of the project cost.

Bengaluru Commuter Rail
Overview
OwnerIndian Railways
Area servedIn and around Bangalore
LocaleBengaluru, Karnataka, India
Transit typeSuburban rail
Number of lines4
Operation
Operator(s)Bangalore Suburban Rail Company Limited,Indian Railways
Technical
System length148.17 kilometres (92.07 mi)
Track gaugeBroad Gauge
System map

History

A Suburban rail service existed in Bangalore as early as in 1963 for HAL employees to commute from City Railway station to Vimanapura Railway station. A formal Commuter Rail system for Bangalore had first been proposed by a team from Southern Railway in 1983. Their recommendation had been to invest in 3 commuter rail lines and a 58-km ring railway. The package was estimated to cost Rs. 6,500 million in 1983 terms (US$628.6 million) spread over a 25-year period.

In 1993, the State of Karnataka established another committee to look into mass rapid transit. This committee recommended essentially the same put forward by Southern Railway in 1983 and the same circular railway.

In 2007, RITES (Rail Indian Technical and Economic Services) was commissioned by the Government of Karnataka to conduct a CTTP (Comprehensive Traffic & Transportation Plan) for the city of Bangalore. Their report called for 10 Suburban Rail routes totaling 204.0 km. As per the report, Commuter Rail (along existing rail routes) would cost much lesser than mass rapid transit systems.

Proposal made by Praja in 'Call To Action' Report (July 2010)

In July 2010, a proposal was made by Praja Bangalore in a 'Call To Action' report. This plan was supported & presented at the center for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CisTup), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. The proposal had suggested a 376 km network around three hubs (Yeshwanthpur, Benniganahalli & Yelahanka) with 42 new stations.[1] A key recommendation was to use the congested KSR, Bangalore city station only as a pass-through station.

In November 2011, RITES conducted a feasibility study exclusively for suburban rail services in Bangalore and submitted their final report to the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) in November 2012.[2] The 179-page report studied all existing routes totaling 440.8 km of the rail network in & around the city & development of Suburban Rail services over three phases.[3]

Existing and Proposed Rail Network

The state government approved the suburban rail system on 5 July 2013. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah approved the system in the 2013-14 state budget that he presented on 9 July 2013.[4] The budget proposed the setting up of the Bangalore Suburban Rail Corporation Limited, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to implement the project estimated to cost ₹87.59 billion (US$1.2 billion).[5][6]

In the 2016-17 Railway budget, Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced a partnership with Karnataka government for a Rs. 9000-crore Suburban Rail network for Bangalore, but did not allocate any funds.[7][8] On 3 February 2016, the state government proposed a modified version of the original RITES plan. This looked to kick-start the project with a Rs. 1,000-crore investment to connect Mandya with Kengeri, Whitefield with Baiyappanahalli and Tumkur with Yeshwantpur. The state government released 100 crore towards this.[9] The state appointed RITES again to study the feasibility of the project, and the latter's survey deemed the project as feasible.[7] However, Railways stated that the proposed Phase Two of the project (linking Tumkur and Yeshwanthpur) was not feasible.[10]

In November 2018, RITES prepared a revised plan for a 161 km network that was again amended in August 2019 to reduce costs. Out of 82 stations, 29 stations were deleted, route length reduced to 148 km & costs lowered to Rs. 16,000 crores. This was finally accepted by Government of India.[11]

Route proposals
A map of the finalised alignment of the suburban rail overlaid with the Namma metro route post phase 1 and 2 expansions

A) Routes recommended by RITES for CTTP - 2007
Corridor Length (km)
Kengeri - Bangalore City Station 13.0
Bangalore City Station - Whitefield 24.0
Bangalore City Station – Baiyappanahalli Via Lottegollahalli 23.0
Lottegollahalli to Yelahanka 7.0
Banaswadi up to BMA Boundary 29.0
Kengeri- BMA Boundary 9.0
Yeshwantpur to BMA Boundary 14.0
BMA Boundary – Hosur 12.0
BMA Boundary- Ramanagaram 23.0
BMA Boundary to Tumkur 50.0
Total 204.0

B) Routes proposed by Praja in July, 2010
Route Distance (km)
Yeswantpur - Yelahanka - Devanahalli – Chickballapur 60
Benninganahalli - Thanisandra - Yelahanka – Doddballapur 37
Yeswantpur - Benninganahalli - Anekal – Hosur 66
Tumkur/Nelamangala - Yeswantpur – Benninganahalli 83
Yelahanka - Benninganahalli - Whitefield - Malur – Bangarpet 80
Yelahanka - Yeshwantpur - City - Kengeri – Ramanagara 50
Total route length (Kms) 376

C) Routes studied by RITES, as per their final report of November, 2012
From To Distance (km)
City Mandya 92.88
City Yeshwanthpur 5.35
Yeshwanthpur Tumkur 64.00
Yeshwanthpur Yelahanka 12.45
Yelahanka Baiyappanahalli 19.23
Yeshwanthpur Baiyappanahalli 16.12
Yelahanka Dodballapur 20.72
Yelahanka Chikkaballapura 46.05
Baiyappanahalli Hosur 48.59
City Baiyappanahalli 10.76
Baiyappanahalli Bangarpet 59.45
Soladevanahalli Kunigal 45.2
Total → 440.8

D) Routes finally proposed by RITES & approved:
Route Distance Ridership

(Estd, Lakhs)

 Length (km) No. of Stations
Elevated Surface Elevated Surface
KSR Bengaluru City to Devanahalli 41.40 2.82 18.98 22.42 8 7
Baiyappanahalli to Chikkabanavara 25.01 2.03 12.905 12.105 6 8
Kengri to Whitefield 35.52 1.64 10.40 25.12 4 10
Heelalige to Rajanakunte 46.24 3.34 13.29 32.95 4 15
Total 148.17 9.83 55.575 92.595 22 40*

*The total number of stations is 58 (figures under individual routes include interchange stations).

Current Status

Though approved in principle by Government of India, budget allocations have been paltry over the last few years as only token amounts have been allocated.[12][13] On 7 October, 2020, the project was approved by Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (headed by the Prime Minister).[14][15] The State Government commenced providing budgetary support for the Suburban Rail project & 500 crores was allocated in the 2020-21 budget.[16][17] Meanwhile, KRide[18] has kick-started the Suburban project by calling tenders for Land Survey, hiring staff etc.[19][20][21][22]

Current operation by Indian Railways
  1. Indian Railways south west railway zone operates several suburban train services from Bengaluru to Hosur, Jolarpettai, Tumakuru, Marikuppam, Bangarpet, Hindupur, Mysuru and Hassan.
  2. Hosur and Jolarpettai is across the border in Tamil Nadu and Hindupur is in Andhra Pradesh, while Tumakuru, Bangarpet, Mysuru and Hassan are in Karnataka.
  3. Service to and from Hassan, Hindupur, Hosur and Tumakuru will operate from Yesvantpur station in the city's northern suburb, while service to Marikuppan, Bangarpet and Jolarpettai will be to and from Bengaluru main city station.
  4. The zonal railway has been operating daily suburban service between Bengaluru and Mysuru. Diesel Electrical Multiple Unit (DEMU) and Mainline Electrical Unit (MEMU) cars will be used for the services on the suburban routes.[23]

References
  1. "CRS: Call to Action Report".
  2. Aparajita Ray (18 June 2012). "RITES sent commuter rail feasibility study to DULT". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  3. Suchith Kidiyoor (10 November 2012). "440-km commuter rail network planned in Karnataka". Dnaindia.com. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  4. ref>Chitra V. Ramani (13 July 2013). "Green signal for suburban train system". The Hindu. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  5. "Bangalore suburban rail a Kharge-Siddu dream". The Times of India. TNN. 13 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  6. "Govt to set up SPV to implement Bangalore suburban rail system". Business Standard. 12 July 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  7. "Phase 1 of suburban rail network feasible: George". The Times of India.
  8. "State seeks Centre's nod for suburban rail project". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 25 September 2015. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 September 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. "Suburban rail gets a push, railways to link 4 stations". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  10. "Whitefield-Byappanahalli suburban rail link okayed". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  11. "RITES submits revised DPR of Bengaluru Suburban Rail project".
  12. 5 Feb, Christin Mathew Philip / TNN /; 2020; Ist, 22:10. "Rs 18,600-cr Bengaluru suburban rail gets just Rs 1 crore in Pink Book | Bengaluru News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 September 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. www.ETGovernment.com. "Budget 2020: Push to Bengaluru suburban rail project will boost urban transport in Karnataka - ET Government". ETGovernment.com. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  14. "K-RIDE floats Land Survey Tender for Bengaluru Suburban Rail".
  15. "K-RIDE begins survey process for suburban rail project".
  16. "Karnataka Budget: Rs 500 crore for Bengaluru suburban railway comes as a saving grace". Deccan Herald. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  17. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/mooted-37-yrs-ago-148km-bengaluru-suburban-rail-project-wins-nod/articleshow/78544898.cms
  18. "Suburban rail SPV to take shape in a month". Deccan Herald. 5 July 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  19. "Tender for Land Survey floated".
  20. "Preparatory works begin for suburban rail project". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  21. "Long-pending Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project, worth Rs 17,000 crore awaits clearance from Centre; details here". The Financial Express. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
  22. "With Finance Ministry Clearing Bangalore Suburban Project, K-Ride Starts Hiring Engineers".
  23. "Railways to restart skeletal suburban train services in and around Bengaluru". The News Minute. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

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